This is a lesson about being different and thinking differently. It focuses on the work of Temple Grandin, an animal behavior scientist who has autism, a brain condition of unknown cause that people are born with, and that makes them behave differently than other people.

Be the Video Game Developer

Be the Video Game Developer is an interactive experience that puts you in the driver’s seat of video game development. In this interactive video, you can consider what you would like to see in video games and make selections—choosing avatars, storylines, and other video game features.

The video takes you to the office of a video game developer where you are asked to take part in developing a video game. You will go through the three major parts of making a game: design, engineering, and quality assurance (QA)—or game testing. At certain points during the video, the developers ask you to make some decisions about the characters, graphics, the setting, the sound, and you even get to set some of the game parameters.

When you're all done developing the video game, you can test it out and then make changes if you need to. Once you're satisfied with your creation, you have the option of sharing your game with others.

Going Further

This video would be a fun tool for an introduction to computer science for your elementary school kids. By participating in this video, kids can learn some critical thinking and teamwork skills to help them feel like creators in the game design process. It may also encourage girls in particular to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

The video could be used as a motivation in a lesson on computer science, or even one that focuses on technology learning goals in which kids have to consider design and systems and the types of constraints scientists have to deal with when they are trying to design new things.